Demystifying Medicine One Week at a Time

I wrote a post for NPR’s Shots blog about back pain. The article arose out of a post I wrote here a few weeks ago. That’s right—GlassHospital, where we sow the seeds!

What I love about this latest Shots piece is that I was able to interview Doc Mike Evans, he of the famous animated whiteboard video “23 1/2 hours: What is the single best thing we can do for our health?” that has racked up more than 4 million views on YouTube.

Evans is a lovely guy—down to earth, thoughtful, patient; he’s a father, husband, doctor, health educator, and still, at age 50, a hockey player. He didn’t even blink when I asked him several of the cliched questions he’s been asked many, many times.

“Are those your hands in the videos?” –No.

“Did you know ’23 1/2 Hours’ was mentioned on ‘Orange is the New Black?’ ” –Yes.

As with greatness in other realms, Evans makes what he does look effortless. But it’s not. Each video takes at least a month of research/writing/editing before his crew even gets to the filming stage. The filming and editing thereafter can take as long as another two months. That’s three months plus for videos pared down to 10 minutes or less. Information-rich videos that make the complex simple.

Rare is the video that makes you feel smarter just watching it. That’s what Evans does.

Thank you for introducing me to the videos of Dr. Mike Evans. And for your NPR brief. I watched 4-5 of his videos – glad to know New Year’s resolutions actually make sense. I discovered in December I have borderline high blood pressure – after years in my youth of having LOW blood pressure. Quel surprise. So: My resolution is to lower processed foods (due to salt), increase my exercise (which is already pretty good – 150 minutes/week) and lose weight – I also have arthritis in one hip. I aim to hit my goal by September. Glad this resolution concept is sound.